The Interview
by Shadow Padawan
Summary: Rose is willing to use all the tools at her disposal to get the internship she wants. Theo/Rose. Warning: uneven power dynamics, cross-gen.


This way, please, Ms. Weasley."

Rose clutched a little nervously at her bag as she was led down a long, shining hallway of the British Wizarding embassy in Paris. The building was relatively small – most of the people who worked there chose to portkey in and out every day instead of living on-site. Only the high-level diplomats and necessary staff had rooms at the embassy. Rose was certain that if she got this internship, she would also get a room at the embassy if possible. After all, what was the use of getting an internship out of the country if she could not actually stay abroad as well?

This was the final round of interviews. Rose had made it through an application process, an initial round of interviews at the British Ministry of Magic, and this was the last and final round. Here, she would be finally interviewed by the man who would be her supervisor. Rose was almost glad that it was a man. She believed she was very well qualified for the job at any rate, but if being a pretty woman helped her cause, she would not decline the opportunity to have that work in her favor.

Finally, they stopped at a large oak door at the end of a hallway and Rose's guide knocked three times before entering. "Your interviewee is here, Mr. Nott."

Nott. Rose knew the name from researching the last war, the one her parents had fought in. Nott had been one of the Death Eaters, but that Nott was Adam. This Nott was a Theodore. She wondered if they were related. From what her mother had told her, Rose knew that Mr. Nott had been in politics since leaving school. He was a soft-spoken man, mostly stayed out of everyone's way. He was supposedly very smart and had made a successful career for himself in foreign affairs with astonishing speed. Rose was proud of herself for not being intimidated. Neither of her parents seemed to like him much – or rather, had some strange, preconceived distrust of the man – however, they did not bother to tell Rose exactly why.

Taking a deep breath, she straightened her posture like her mother told her to do and stepped into the room just as her guide was being dismissed.

Once the woman left and closed the door on her way out, Rose found herself alone in a quaint office, face-to-face with her interviewer. Mr. Nott was about her father's age, from what Rose could tell. He had mousy brown hair, and a very straight nose, slightly protruding cheekbones, which gave him a hamsterish look, and large glasses. The most appealing part of his face were his velvety brown eyes. Rose would have almost called them soft, if it weren't for the sharp, appraising way he was looking at her. "Hello, Mr. Nott," Rose began finally, starting to feel that the silence was dragging on for a little too long. "I'm Rose Weasley—"

"I know who you are, Ms. _Weasley._ "

Rose tightened the grip on her bag. Nott's voice had been completely calm but she did not like the way he said her name. She certainly did not like the way he was looking at her – as though picking her apart. In order to distract herself, Rose began to look around the office. There was not much of anything to latch onto. File folders and scrolls of parchments were organized neatly on the desk, the large bookshelves hugging the walls contained numerous large tomes. There was one window, the curtains on which had been drawn. The room was lit with numerous floating candles and a desk lamp – Rose could see the light-enhancing charm glittering around it. There were few personal objects in the room.

"Please, Ms. Weasley, take a seat." Rose sat down in the empty chair opposite Nott and waited. He was looking over her resume. "Good NEWT scores, excellent actually, but no High Degree. Why not?"

So it had begun. Rose actually preferred the straightforward questions to the appraising, strange silence. "I was hoping to learn from experience. I enjoy reading and research, but actual, real world experience is more useful often times."

Nott nodded, bobbing his head almost absentmindedly. "Language? French – well, of course – fluent?"

Rose froze for a moment. She was not fluent but she figured her skills would be adequate for a mere internship. Besides, she would be working for the British diplomats; her interactions with anyone from the French government would be limited, surely. "Not…exactly fluent. But I am quite good. I took a proficiency test—"

"Yes, I see that here. Latin?"

"Sorry?"

"Latin." Nott looked up. "How well do you know it?"

"Ah…I know spells. Some things there and here from books… Latin was not a requirement for this job."

Nott smiled, something predatory coming out and giving him an expression that made his face look less…plain. "No, but most Purebloods have a Latin and a French tutor growing up."

"I'm not a Pureblood." Rose tensed. Since the last war, her mother had said, no one dared to question anyone else's blood status in the workplace. It was considered very bad form and prejudicial. Her mother was currently working on actually passing a law that would forbid such questions. Even though, this hadn't exactly been a question. "Why would I need to know Latin?"

"International agreements are often written in it. Especially in Europe." Nott did not look phased at all – he was once again studying her resume as he spoke. "The further back you go, the more Latin there is. But even now everything official is in Latin. Certainly anything binding, otherwise the magic wouldn't work. The wizarding community is old fashioned like that, no matter what some would like to believe."

Rose recognized the slight edge of passive-aggressiveness in his tone. It was not foreign to her. Rose often used that tone when she was frustrated and upset with something. But she was not sure why Nott was taking it out on her.

"Why do you want to do this internship, Ms. Weasley?"

"I think it would be a great educational opportunity," Rose began in a clear, practiced tone. Nott picked up a quill from his desk and began making note of something. Rose's eye caught on the decorative serpent winding around the quill. _Slytherin,_ she thought, _he must have been in Slytherin._ "I also…" She bit her lip and made a decision. "I also believe it would be a wonderful way for me to meet new people, make new connections. Networking."

Nott scoffed.

"What?"

"That word. 'Networking.' It's all the rage right now with the Muggles and, thus of course, with the liberals."

"It's just an efficient way to express an idea," Rose snapped. She was instantly horrified. She needed to make a good impression, not a bad one. Even if she disagreed.

Nott stopped writing and looked up. "Do you value that, Ms. Weasley? Efficiency?"

"I value being able to get things done. I thought that to be a good thing in politics?"

"Yes, but so is subtlety." Nott looked down again. Whatever spark of interest she had roused in him, it was gone. Rose bit her lip in frustration.

"I really am very good with people. I am straightforward and dependable. Back at Hogwarts—"

Nott put his quill down deliberately and met Rose's eyes for the first time directly, making her fall silent. "Let me be honest with you, Ms. Weasley. There are four other candidates aside from you, three of whom I have already interviewed. They are all fluent in French and Latin. One of them has a High Degree. Three of them are Purebloods with valuable contacts in high places. On the other hand, your NEWTs and your letters of recommendation from Hogwarts are excellent. I do not think that you are necessarily so less qualified than the rest of these people as to not be able to do the job. However, you are also a brash, bold Gryffindor who knows little of politics and who thinks that because her mother's and father's reputation got her this far in the interview process—"

"That is terribly unfair!" Rose was starting to lose her self-control. "I got this far because I am well qualified, not because of who my parents are."

Nott smiled, a bit of condescension seeping into his expression. "That last part was not an insult, Ms. Weasley. A lot of things about politics is who you know and who you are connected to. The fact that you are not willing to use that is far more of a problem than the fact that your connections got you here. But your parents cannot be everywhere. If you want to be successful in politics, you need to find a way to make those connections elsewhere. You need to learn to impress people in a way that is…you. You need to get them to do what you want. Somehow, anyhow you feel you can allow yourself to."

Rose was watching him closely, trying to figure out how she could still save this situation. Nott made a lot of sense, but she was not sure what he wanted to hear from her at this point. She also knew that she needed to prove to him that she could use all the weapons at her disposal, that she was not afraid to do what needed to be done – Gryffindor or not – in order to get what she wanted. And what she wanted, what she _really_ wanted, was this once in a lifetime internship opportunity.

"Ms. Weasley, I have to choose between five very strong candidates here. This interview is for you to impress me and I have not been very impressed yet. You need to show me what you can do for me – for your country, if you wish – how great is your understanding of people and of yourself?"

"What would you like me to do?"

"Oh, whatever you like. Surprise me." Nott sat back in his chair and spread his arms in a welcoming sort of gesture. "Shock me, even."

Rose sat there for a moment. She thought back to her ruminations about having an advantage because she was a pretty girl. She studied Nott's face, which was almost handsome in a strange way. She thought of how much she wanted this internship. Then she stood.

Her mother would not approve. Her father would be furious, but Rose left obeying their parents to Hugo. She wanted to be wild sometimes, she wanted to be a little bit of a Slytherin from time-to-time. A Slytherin with a very Gryffindor instinct.

Rose walked around the desk and sat down on top of it, right beside Nott, her office skirt riding up as she did so. The elastic top of one of her stockings could be seen peeking out from under the dark fabric.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Nott looked shocked indeed.

"You think I am like my mother, Mr. Nott, do you not? You think I am righteous and that I cannot use _alternative_ means to win someone over. I can tell you you're wrong." She fingered open the top of her blouse.

"Ms. Weasley, I really don't think this is appropriate," Nott protested, but he was having a hard time not looking at her cleavage now.

"So what?" Rose grinned, shaking her bushy red hair out of its bun and letting it cascade down her shoulders. She slid off the desk and landed in Nott's lap, straddling him. "You asked me to shock you. To prove that I was willing to do what was needed. In a…political way."

"And you consider this political?" Nott swallowed hard as she traced a slender finger under his chin and over his Adam's apple.

Rose gave him s coy smile. "As political as it gets." She leaned in and whispered softly against his ear. "Why don't you enjoy it?"

He was lost after that.

Nott let out a small sound of surprise and pleasure. He found the hem of her skirt and pushed it up over her thighs. Rose unbuttoned the rest of her blouse and undid his tie. Nott reached up and cupped one of her full breasts in one hand, looking at it in awe and something like admiration. Rose leaned in and kissed him hard on the mouth. His hands slid over her body and ended up on her hips. Nott pressed their bodies together, tightly, Rose could feel his erection as it thrummed against her thigh. She could feel herself becoming wet.

Nott broke their kiss and dove down to kiss her neck, making his way down to her breasts. Rose threw her head back and shuddered in pleasure as Nott slipped off her bra and began to gently suck her nipple, swirling his tongue around its hard bulge.

Rose fumbled to undo the lacings on his britches. Finally, she managed to get through the layer of clothing and held his member in her hands, but he stopped her before she could do anything. "It is not a proper negotiation unless we are on even ground," Nott said, hoarsely, looking up into her face, his own flushed, his once neatly combed hair now disheveled. He looked almost boyish like that.

Rose let him position her over him, felt the warmth of his length sliding into her. She was no virgin, so there was no pain to dampen the feeling of fullness that enveloped her. She felt her muscles contract instinctively and saw the effect on Nott's face as his mouth opened slightly and his hands squeezed her hips.

The rest was a well-contained storm. Rose pushed him to the limit, rode him the way she would ride a horse, or a hippogriff or a dragon – long, sensual sways, up and down, shivers erupting over her back and thighs as she moved. She drove him to the edge, felt his hands fist in her blouse and saw the glazed, far-off look in his eyes. He said her name, many times over before finally spilling himself into her.

Throughout it all, in a vague, disconnected way, Rose wondered if political machinations felt like this. The sweet arousal of manipulation and deception, the feeling of pulling ahead, of making the person across the table believe that all of this was to his benefit, when it was actually for yours alone. She could live like this, Rose decided, if politics – if conquering – ever felt this good.

"Do we have a deal, Mr. Nott," Rose asked, just as he came within her. "Was it a _successful_ negotiation?"

Nott gulped down large breaths of air and smiled at her, a very different smile than what she had originally seen. More vulnerable and younger. She had broken through at least some of his defenses. "I think it was, Ms. Weasley."

Rose smiled and kissed him, softly this time, because they had both earned that small bit of sweetness at the end. Or so she thought.


End file.
